Combination ventilator and drier



Feb. 23, 1943. H. J. LAGoDzlNsKl `COMBINATION VENTILATOR AND DRIER Filed oct. ss.,A 1941 Patented Feb. 23, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINATION VENTILATOR AND DRIER Application October 6, |1941, Serial No. 413,758

3 Claims.

In modern buildings it is common practice to install in the external walls of kitchens an exhaust fan for expelling cooking and other odors to the outside atmosphere, the fan and its electric motor being mounted in or in register with an opening in the wall usually located a slight distance below the ceiling of the room.

My present invention combines with this ventilator device a device by which damp kitchen towels and the like may be quickly dried by utilizing the air draft created by the fan either during or between room Ventilating periods.

To this end, my invention includes a cabinet attached to the room side of the wall over the ventilation opening, and this cabinet has a horizontal partition dividing it into upper and lower compartments, the lower compartment having an opening to the room below the partition, and the latter having an opening through which air is drawn by the fan into the upper compartment, and thence expelled through the wall opening to the outer atmosphere. In the lower compartment is a rack on which damp towels or the like may be suspended, which are quickly dried by the air draft flowing upwardly through the lower compartment.

A practical and improved embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly in vertical section, of a double cabinet equipped with twin hinged front doors, and attached to the wall in which the Ventilating opening is formed over the latter.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section through the wall and cabinet on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section, showing a means for controlling a plate valve that controls the air draft through the upper and lower compartments of the cabinet.

In the drawing, I designates an outside wall of a room, such as a kitchen, to be ventilated, and in this wall, a slight distance below the ceiling I I is a Ventilation opening I2, in which is mounted a fan I3 driven by an electric motor I4, the fan acting to move the air in the direction indicated by arrows in Fig. 2.

Attached to the inner side of the wall I0 as by screws |5 or otherwise, is a twin compartment cabinet designated as an entirety by I6, the cabinet having a central vertical partition I1. and the two chambers thus formed being equipped with vertically hinged doors I8 and I9. For the purposes of the present invention, a single chamber cabinet is sufficient; but a twin chamber cabinet is shown, and it may be assumed that the chamber covered by the door I9 forms a dish cupboard.

The chamber |8 is located over or in front of the wall opening I2, and said chamber is divided by a horizontal partition 20 into an upper compartment 2| and a lower compartment 22, which latter has an open lower end. In the front end of the upper compartment 2| is an opening 23, preferably fitted with a grill 24, by which the compartment 2| communicates with the room in which the cabinet is located. The rear end of the compartment 2| registers with the ventilation opening I2 of the wall I0.

In the rear portion of the partition 20 is an opening 25 through which the lower compartment 22 is placed in communication with the rear portion of the upper compartment 2|; said opening 25 also being preferably equipped with a grill 26.

Keyed to a rock shaft 21 (Fig. 3) journalled in and between the side walls of the cabinet just above the partition 20 and in front of the opening 25 is a plate valve 28 of a height and width substantially equalling the height and width of the chamber 2|. This valve 28 is normally urged to a lowered horizontal position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, in which it covers the opening 25, by a torsion spring 29 encircling a portion of the shaft 21 and anchored under tension at one end to a side wall of the cabinet and at its other end to the plate valve. Attached to the projecting end of the shaft 21 is an arm 30, to the free end of which is attached a depending chain 3|, that may be drawn downwardly to raise the valve 28 and retained by a forked keeper lug `32.

Within the upper portion of the lower compartment 22 is a rack 33 on which a plurality of damp towels indicated at 34 may be suspended.

Attached to the outer side of the wall I0 just above the opening I2 is a xed louver 35 overhanging the outer side of the opening l2 to exclude rain and snow. Beneath the cabinet I have indicated a table 36 for the temporary support of dishes, towels and the like, such as is commonly used in like association with an upper dish cupboard, but this table constitutes no part of the present invention.

From the foregoing it will be seen that in a horizontal position of the valve 28, wherein it closes the partition opening 25, the draft from the room through the lower drying compartment of the cabinet is cut off, and all the draft is through the upper compartment; in a vertical position of said valve the draft from the room through the upper compartment is cut o, and all the draft from the room is upwardly through the lower compartment, affording a maximum drying effect, for a given time period, to the towels; and in an intermediate position of the valve, such as is shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the draft is divided between the two compartments. In the rst named position of the valve the fan ventilates the room only wholly through the upper compartment 2|; in the second named position, it both Ventilates the room and simultane ously effects a maximum drying eect on the towels in the lower compartment; and in the third named position it ventilates the room f towels, this later drying effect increasing as the valve is adjusted toward vertical position, and decreasing as the valve is adjusted toward horizontal position. Thus, Ventilation of the room takes place all the time the fan is in operation, but the maximum or quickest drying eff-ect is obtained by cutting off the draft through the upper compartment and directing all of it' through the lower towel compartment.

I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, but minor changes in the details of structure and arrangement of parts may be resorted to within the scope and coverage of the claims.

I claim:

l. In combination with a building wall having a ventilation opening, and a fan for exhausting air through said opening from a room on one side of said wall, a cabinet attached to the room side of said wall, a partition in said cabinet dividing the latter into upper and lower compartments, said upper compartment communicating at its front end with the room and at its' rear end communicating with said wall opening, said partition having an opening for the flow of air from said lower compartment into said upper compartment, and said lower compartment having an opening below said partition, a towel rack in said lower compartment, and a valve for controlling the flow of air through said partition opening, said valve being adapted when in one position to close communication between said ventilation opening and the front end of said upper compartment.

2. In combination with a building wall having a Ventilation opening, and a motor-driven fan in said opening for exhausting air from a room on one side of said wall, an open-bottom cabinet attached to the room side of said wall covering said opening, a horizontal partition in said cabinet dividing the latter into upper and lower compartments, said upper compartment communicating at its front end with the room and at its rear registering with said wall opening, and said partition having an opening for the upward flow of air from said lower compartment into said upper compartment, a towel rack in said lower compartment, and a valve adapted in one position to direct the flow of air through said upper compartment to ventilate the room and in another position to direct the ilow o f air through said lower compartment to dry the towels, said Valve being adapted when insaid one position to close communication between said wall opening and thefront end of said upper compartment.

3. In combination with a building wall having a ventilation opening, and a motor-driven fan in said opening for exhausting air from a room on one side of said wall, an open-bottom cabinet attached to the room side of said wall covering said opening, said cabinet having a hinged front door with a grill-covered opening in its upper portion, a horizontal partition in said cabinet dividing the latter into upper and lower compartments, said upper compartment registering at its .front end with said door opening and at its rear end with said wall opening, and said partition having a grill-covered opening for the upward flow of air from said lower compartment into said upper compartment, a towel rack in said lower compartment, a plate valve of a height and width substantially equal to the height and width of said upper compartment hinged at its lower edge to said partition in front of the opening of the latter, said valve being adapted when in one position to close communication between said door opening and said wall opening, a spring urging said Valve to a position closing said parti-l tion opening, and means for setting and holding said valve more or less crosswise of said upper compartment. Y

HARRY J LAGODZINSKI. 

